Gin attachment



C. A. HDOTON.

GIN ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED JULY H. 1921.

1,429,947, PatentedSept. 26,1922.

3 SHEETSSH EET I.

(LA-Hooter: :Nvaw rem.

c. A. HOOTON. GIN ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 11,1921.

' PatentedSept. 26, 1922.

3 SHEETS'SHEET 2.

CAHooton l NVENTOR.

0. A, HOOTON.

GIN ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1!.1921.

Patented Sept. 26, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Hooton mvau ow.

, B ms ATTQlZNEY.

Patented Sept. 2%, i932.

CLAUDE A. I'IOOTON, OF SHERMAN, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR TO HARDWICKE-ETTERCOMPANY, OF SHERMAN, TEXAS.

l GIN ATTACHMENT.

.Application filed July 11, 1921. SerialNd. 483,854.

1 '0 all 10 how it may concern I Be it known that I, CLAUDE A. Hoo'roN,a citizen of the United States, residing at Sherman, Grayson County,Texas, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in GinAttachments, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, such as will enable others skilled in the art to Which itappertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to cotton gins. More particularly it is anattachment for cotton ins for the purpose of moving and regulating thefeeding of cotton to the gin and the ejection of refuse, hulls andchaff.

In the operation of the usual types of cotton gins, especially where thecotton is holly, or contains many hulls or burrs, it is necessary tomaintain attendants at the gins whose duty it is to see to the cleaningof the gin of this waste at regular intervals. To do this the gin breastin front of the gin saws must be swung out sufhciently for the hulls andburrs to drop out and then closed again. When the" gin breast'is openedthe feedingof cotton to the gin must be checked until the gin is againclosed. The attendant usually does this by hand. An obstruction isplaced at the mouth of the chute which feeds the cotton to the gin andthe gin breastis then swung open to drop out the Waste. When the gin isagain closed, the feeding chute is opened and the ginning againproceeds.

The object of my invention is to provide a mechanism, operated inconnection with the gin itself, which will, at regular inter.

"als, close the feeder, open the gin breast and discharge the hulls andwaste and again close the gin and open the feeder, v A further purposeis to do away with the necessity of some of the attendants at the ginsby performing the process of dis charging hulls, etc., from the ginautomatically, without the necessity of manual operation.

Further objects and advantages will be clear from the description whichfollows in which a preferred embodiment of my invention is disclosed.ularly in the combination and relation of parts, and various obviouschanges may be made therein without departing from the The inventionliespartic- 'ing rod 15;

numerals of reference are applied-to like parts throughout the severalviews: Fig. 1 IS a perspective view of a gin stand with my inventionapplied thereto. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the operating mechanlsmof my device. Fig. 3 is broken view showing the device in sideelevation, and Fig. 4C is another perspective view thereof.

In the drawing, the numeral 1 designates the cleaner, having feedingchute '2 thereon to conduct the cotton to the gin 3. At the front orbreast of the gin 3 is a door at conforming in shape to the gin breast.It

is hence of somewhat irregular shape and' I, of the gin and interferewith the proper actlon'of the gin. It is then necessary to open the,door' l, swinging it out to the dotted line position of Fig. 3 to allowthe hulls to drop out. lVhile this is done the cotton from the feedermust be. shut off by closing the opening 6 leading therefrom.

These operations areperformed by means of my invention; 'The opening 6of the feeding 'chute is provided With a door or valve 7 connected atone of its side edges to a rod 8 pivoted to swing in forked brackets 9,one at each side of the mouth of the chute.

This door is held normally in open position by means of a weighted lever10 fixed to the rod 8 and extending rearwardly with" i a slight upwardinclination as shown' in Fig. l. The lever is maintained in thisposition by means of a connecting rod 11 pivotally attached to the saidlever at a. point 12 spaced a short distance from the lower end of thelever. The other end of the connecting rod 11 is supported on the" outerend of an operating lever to which said connecting rod is detachablysecured;

To raise the breast door tof the gima' laterally extending bracket 14 onthe breast door is provided with an opening therein to which isdetachably secured a connect This rod extends backwardly and upwardlyand is connected at its other end to an operating lever 16'. The rod-isinserted in an opening in the said operating lever and is securedagainst removal by a cotter pin or some other detachable means.

The operating levers l3 and 16 are actuated by the mechanism shown bestin Fig. 2. This mechanism is housed in a box 17. The housing 17 has acentral upright shaft 18 therein upon which is mounted a gear wheel.Said wheel is adapted to be operated by a worm gear 20, formed on atransverse shaft 21 journalled in the box 17. The outer end of thisshaft has thereon a pulley which may be operatively connected by meansof a belt 23 to a smaller pulley 2 1- on a shaft of the cleaner 1.

The two operating levers 13 and 16 are pivoted at one side of thehousing on a pin This pin is on that side of the box 17 away from thegin stand 3. A slot 26 in the lower half of the housing n'ovides a guidefor the lower lever 16. The upper lever. moves in a slot 27 in the lowerface of the upper half of the housing which is removable so as to form acover for the mechanism. v i

The gear wheel 19 is mounted so as to set in a horizontal positionmidway between the two operating levers. On the upper face of the wheeland closely adjacent the outer edge are a plurality of evenly spacedcamv blocks 28. The outer face of each of these cam blocks is rounded tocontact with the upper lever 13 as the gear wheel rotates.

On the lower face of the wheel are a like number of rollers 29 shown indotted lines in Fig. 2. These rollers are slightly behind the cams 28,as the wheel rotates, and are positioned to bear against the lever 16and throw it over slightly after the upper lever is operated and,because of its shorter surface of contact with the lever, will alsoallow it to swing back sooner than can the upper operating lever.

The housing is supported by any convenient means such as a bracket asmay be most desirable, at a point near the gin stand. The rotation ofthe pulley 22 by means of the belt, or any other convenient means, willcause the rotation of the wheel '19 in a clockwise direction as viewedin Fig. 2. As the wheel rotates the can] 28 will come in contact withthe upper lever 13 first. This will act to shove it forward into theposition shown in Fig. 41-. This motion of the lever will act throughthe connecting rod 11 to throw the weighted lever 10 into raisedposition and close the door or valve 7 as shown in Fig. 4.

The roller 29 on the lower face of the gear wheel will then strike thelower operating lever 16 and force it forward to the position shown inFig. 4 and thus throw the rod 15 and the breast door 4 forwardly so asto allow the waste to be discharged.

The continued rotation of the wheel 1!) will. bring the roller 29 out ofcontact with the lever 16 and the weight of the door 4L will cause it todrop back and throw the lever 16 into its rearward position. The cam 28will then pass the lever 13 allowing the weight 10 to drop and open thedoor 7 and throw the lever 13 back.

The continued rotation of the gear wheel 19 will shortly brin anotherset of cam and roller into engagement with the levers 13and l6 andrepeat this operation. The proper spacing of the cams and the timing ofthe gear will serve to close the valve 7 and shut off the feed of thecotton and to then open the door to the gin breast and discharge thehulls, close this door and then open valve 7 and feed the cotton againto the gin and to repeat this operation regularly at the properintervals of time.

As will be noted, this device is simple and positive in its action andis not liable to easily get out of order. It may quickly be attached ordetached from its operative position. Thus, where the cotton is clean,and the device unnecessary, the belt may be removed, the valve 7 may belifted from the brackets 9, and the connecting rod 11 detached from theoperating lever 13. The connecting rod 15 may also be quickly cletachedand removed. The gin may then be run as usual. If a poor quality ofbolly cotton is again to be ginned, the device may be as quicklyinstalled and operated. It may easily be set up for operation on anyordinary type of gin stand with little expense.

Having thus described my invention, the further advantages and objectsof which will be clear to one skilled in the art, what I claim as newand desire to protect by Letters Patent is: I

1. In a device of the character described, a gin, a door therefor, afeeder chute, a valve therefor, operating levers connected to said doorand valve, a rotating gear and separate means on said gear to actuateeach of said levers to close said valve and open said door, said doorbeing adapted to close and. said valve to open by action of gravity whensaid lovers are released by said means.

2. In a device of the character described, a gin, a door thereon, afeeder chute, a valve therefor, said door being normally closed and saidvalve normally open, two levers pivoted on a common shaft, a gearbetween said levers, cams on opposite sides of said gear contacting withsaid levers to move them, operative connections between .one of saidlevers and said door and similar connections between the other lever andsaid valve whereby said valve may be closed and said door opened atpredetermined intervals.

3. In a device of the character described,

a gin door, normally closed, a feeder valve, normally open, a housing,upper and lower operating levers pivoted on said housing, a gear wheelbetween said levers, means on said gear wheel to move said levers,connections between said levers and said door and said valve to closesaid valve and open said door, said door and valve being adapted toautomatically return to normal position when said levers are released.

1-. In a device of the character described, a pivoted member normallyopen, a second member normally closed, a separate lever connected witheach of said members, means to operate said levers to first close saidopen member, to then. open said second member, said operating meansbeing adapted to release said levers to close said second member andthen open said first member in the manner described.

5. In a device of the character described, a feeder valve normally open,a door normally closed, a supporting housing, a lever thereonoperatively connected with said valve, a second lever connected withsaid door, a rotating gear, a cam thereon adapted to actuate the valvelever and a separate cam to thereafter operate saiddoor lever in themanner described.

6. In a device of the character described, an open valve, a closed door,an operating lever connected to said valve, a second lever connectedwith said door, a rotatable gear wheel adjacent said levers, cams onsaid wheel arranged to throw said valve lever to close said valve, throwsaid door lever to open said door and to then release said door leverand afterwards release said valve lever to open said valve in the mannerdescribed.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature, this the 1st day ofJuly, A. D.

CLAUDE A. HOOTON.

